The New York State Education Department has issued a framework for comprehensive school-based mental health services to improve students’ well-being and academic performance in a post-COVID landscape. The framework outlines a “Multi-Tiered System of Supports” (MTSS) model, which includes universal prevention, targeted group support, and intensive individual intervention. However, the model is not legally required, and districts are limited by an outdated foundation aid formula and a delayed state budget. Many districts relied on temporary federal funding to hire mental health professionals, but with that money drying up, the burden shifts to local property taxpayers, disproportionately affecting poorer districts with higher concentrations of students of color.
ALBANY, N.Y. (NEXSTAR) — The New York State Education Department issued a statewide framework for comprehensive school-based mental health on Monday. To better students’ well-being and academic performance in a post-COVID landscape, schools are supposed to have licensed professionals address the needs of New York’s student body.
Get the latest news, weather, sports and entertainment delivered right to your inbox!
The guidance details how to organize mental health services, defining a “Multi-Tiered System of Supports.” That framework has school leaders identifying needs, assessing behavior, and coordinating any crisis response. But the MTSS model represents a structure or series of best practices, not legal requirements, since districts already have to support student mental health under both state and federal law.
MTSS sees schools assigning students to different categories. Tier 1 represents universal prevention for all students, like mental health literacy lessons. Tier 2 offers targeted group support for those showing early warning signs. And Tier 3 represents intensive individual intervention for those who need extra care and attention in the form of clinical services.
LIRR strike costs region $61 million in lost commerce per day
NYSED wants districts to create multidisciplinary mental health teams that would assess individual academic, behavioral, and attendance data to categorize their students in appropriate tiers. District officials are supposed to form partnerships with community-based mental health organizations and “blend multiple funding streams” to hire the licensed social workers, psychologists, and counselors to staff their programs. Those funding streams could be local, state, or federal money, or even donations.
Districts are being asked to implement new mental health measures while limited by an outdated foundation aid formula with data from 2007. And those districts are asking voters to approve tax levels based on estimates instead of official state revenues.
New York finalizes 30×30 conservation plan with long odds
Many New Yorkers outside of the Big 5 districts—New York City, Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, and Yonkers—are voting on their local districts’ budgets for school year 2026/2027 on May 19. But those school budget votes depend on the governor and legislature passing a state budget on time, which they didn’t do this year.
The state is about 50 days late, having passed a series of emergency budget extenders to keep the government running. These temporary measures don’t offer any of the finalized state aid numbers that schools need to develop spending plans for voter approval.
NY Public Campaign Finance Board challenges court ruling on Bruce Blakeman’s matching funds
The budget extenders only offer temporary funding rather than stable, recurring aid. That leaves administrators uncertain about available staffing levels or what resources they can afford to provide on a year-to-year basis, let alone long-term.
Many districts previously relied on temporary Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief, federal funding used to hire mental health professionals. But with that money drying up, the burden shifts to local property taxpayers. And enduring foundation aid gaps disproportionately affect poorer districts with higher concentrations of students of color.